


you're ten and tiny - but a bet's a bet

by Drindrak



Series: ghost in a land of skeletons (or sakura sees ghosts and things get weird) [4]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Haruno Sakura-centric, Japanese Mythology & Folklore, Mokuton User Haruno Sakura, Strong Haruno Sakura, especially kitsune who are clearly mischievous, even then you shouldn't gamble with kitsune, hashirama why, sakura has the luck of gods y'all, spoiler alert: he's gonna beat Hashirama once he catches him, tobirama is gonna beat someone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-18
Updated: 2019-09-18
Packaged: 2020-10-21 01:26:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20685212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drindrak/pseuds/Drindrak
Summary: If there's one thing Tobirama absolutely despises aside from the Uchiha of old, it's gambling.Which explains his rising anger right now.Let's digress.Sakura is ten. And bored.An absolutely horrible combination.





	you're ten and tiny - but a bet's a bet

If there's one thing Tobirama absolutely despises aside from the Uchiha of old, it's gambling.

Which explains his rising anger right now.

Let's digress.

* * *

Sakura is ten. And bored.

A horrible combination according to the ghosts that have taken to following her everywhere.

Not that any are currently following her. She'd given them the slip a few minutes back and had run deep into one of the older training grounds' forests.

Sakura is ten and bored, because people have finally calmed down about the 'Great Wood Release' incident at the Academy a month ago.

Sakura sits against a tree and sighs.

She nearly leaps to her feet when the bushes to her right rustle.

A slender fox slips out of the foliage, intelligent orange eyes staring directly at her.

Then Sakura sees it – the fox has seven tails.

Her jaw drops,

“A  _ Kitsune _ _ 1 _ _ ! _ ”

The seven-tailed fox glows briefly before shifting into a more human shape. Before Sakura now sits a beautiful brown-haired woman. The woman has narrow cheeks and her grin is full of sharp teeth and her inhuman orange eyes glow brightly. Seven fox-like tails wrap around her waist as she sits down opposite of Sakura.

The kitsune greets her,

“Hello.”

However, before Sakura can respond, Hashirama comes barrelling through the shrubbery,

“Sakura-chan!” He grins widely upon see her, before noticing the stranger with her. His brown eyes rove over the kitsune, settling for a moment longer on her tails before returning to its eyes, “Oh, who is this lovely creature?”

The kitsune's smile sharpens,

“Deary me, if it isn't a Senju. Haven't seen any of your kind since... oh, must have been back when I only had three tails.” The kitsune gives a brief wave, “Call me Kitane. I was merely passing by when I saw this kit sitting so far from the human settlement.” She smiles, pointed teeth gleaming in the sunlight, “I was quite curious as to why such a young kit is out so far, yet it appears my curiosity is sated for now.” Her inhuman eyes crinkle in amusement as she looks Hashirama over. “Tell me, Senju, are you a betting man?”

Hashirama blinks, head jerking in a nod,

“Uh... yes, I am. But, um, I can't bet right now.” He gives a sheepish grin, “My wife would kill me!”

Kitane grins, realization rising in her gaze, and her orange eyes shift to Sakura,

“How about you, kit? Are _you_ a betting woman? Do you like to play a lot of games?”

Sakura cocks her head to the side and bobs her head,

“I like to play all sorts of games, y'know!”

Kitane's grin turns near savage,

“Well, how about a bet then?”

And despite Hashirama's frantic head-shaking and the familiar curl of fear coiling in her gut, Sakura smiles back,

“Alright!”

* * *

Tobirama pushes his way past shrubs and into the clearing, and the first thing his red eyes land on are the pair of cards held in Sakura's hands. His head turns slowly and he spies Hashirama with a similar pair. Finally, he sees the kitsune, her cards laid flat, sharp-toothed grin at the straight flush she'd just pulled. No one in the clearing has noticed him yet, as Hashirama groans and lays flat his cards, showing a pair of twos.

Sakura frowns, scratches her head, and says,

“I've got the king and queen cards, are these good?” She places her cards down and the kitsune's jaw drops at the royal flush being presented.

Hashirama cheers loudly,

“Sakura-chan, you won!”

The kitsune sighs and begins gathering the cards up,

“Well, you won fair-and-square Sakura-chan.” The kitsune secretes the cards onto her person and holds her hand out. A small blue ball of flames appears on her palm and she flicks it at Sakura. Tobirama makes to intercept, but before he can, the flames splash harmlessly off of her chest.

Sakura giggles,

“That tickles, Kitane-san!” She pats her chest, “It was all warm and fuzzy, y'know!” She looks over to Hashirama, “Hashirama-kun, did you see that! It didn't hurt at all!”

Kitane smiles good-naturedly and points at Sakura,

“As agreed upon, the secret of the kitsunebi2 is yours now.” Orange eyes flick over to Tobirama. “It appears my time here has come to an end.” She looks back to Sakura and smirks, “Next time, kit, we'll play a more traditional game.”

Sakura pouts,

“But Hashirama-kun only taught me how to play poker, Kitane-san!”

Kitane laughs,

“I shall teach you one, should we meet again. Farewell.” With that, the woman disappears into the underbrush, from which a soft glow could be seen. Tobirama's sharp eyes pick out the slender yellow fox as it slinks away, seven tails flicking as it walks. He turns back to the two still in the clearing.

Tobirama clears his throat, gaining Sakura and his brother's attention,

“Anija3,” Hashirama pales dramatically at his tone. “what _one_ thing did I ask of you regarding Sakura?”

Hashirama chuckles, hands raising in innocence,

“A-Ah, but, Tobirama, see, uh – the thing is – I just!” He turns to Sakura, “RUN!

**Author's Note:**

> 1: Kitsune are fox-spirits. The longer one has lived, the more tails they gain. Yes, that means that Kurama (the Kyuubi) is a proper kitsune in this. In fact, the Bijuu are known as powerful Yōkai in this story. They are the only yōkai that can use Chakra, and that is what separates them from normal ones, such as them being visible to regular humans and their ability to be sealed within humans without immediate possession of the individual. The Sage of the Six Paths did still create the Bijuu from the Ten-Tails in this story, but instead of basing them off of regular animals, he based them off of yōkai and as such created some of the strongest ones in existence.
> 
> 2: Kitsunebi are similar to Will-o'-the-wisps – except that in Japanese mythology, it is thought that will-o'-the-wisps were caused by fox spirits. As such, only a kitsune can claim to use kitsunebi - until now that is. Sakura wanted a cool fire jutsu to show off at the Academy and kitsune are known for their fire abilities. The whole bet was that, should Sakura or Hashirama win, Kitane would bestow the ability to create kitsunebi to Sakura. Should Kitane have won, then Sakura and Hashirama would both owe her favours - and you don't want to owe a kitsune a favour. That's why Hashirama groaned when he lost and cheered when Sakura ended up winning.
> 
> 3: Anija is an archaic and respectful way to say older brother.


End file.
